12 Tips You Need When Making Southern-Style Grits

Grits are a truly all-American food. While indelibly linked in the public imagination with Southern culture, the dish has roots that go even deeper — the native Muscogee people were the first to cook coarsely ground dried corn into a warm porridge. European colonists who encountered the dish happily adopted it as their own, and since then, it's been a staple at diners, fine-dining restaurants, and home-cooked meals throughout the South.

If you're from that region of the United States, you don't need us to tell you how comforting a good plate of grits can be, whether it's served with runny fried eggs to feed a crowd for breakfast or topped with savory gravy with garlic for a major flavor boost alongside a meat dish at dinner. If you're not from the South, you may be baffled by their appeal –- but as your Southern friends would tell you, this is just because you haven't had them prepared correctly yet. And the hard truth is good grits take time and patience to cook. Whether you want to reproduce your Southern grandma's grits or just to understand what all the fuss is about, we've got some experts to help you: Kyle Swarzendruber, executive chef at Soby's New South Cuisine in Greenville, South Carolina, Serge Krikorian, chef/owner at Vibrant Occasions Catering in Benton, Arkansas, and John Spotkill, culinary director at South City Kitchen in Georgia.

Instant grits, like the top brands of instant ramen pitted against one another and even various soups, are fast and easy to throw together, but they don't come close to the real thing in terms of flavor. "I'm going to be straight with you ... stay away from instant grits," Serge Krikorian of Vibrant Occasions Catering said. "I know they're convenient, but they're just not the same dish. It's like comparing instant coffee to a freshly brewed cup."

Instead, he strongly recommends stone-ground grits. "If you want to make real Southern grits, stone-ground is the only way to go. I've been cooking these for years, and there's just no comparison to the mass-produced stuff. The flavor is deeper, more corn-forward — that's because they keep all those natural oils and bits of corn kernel in there," Krikorian said, adding that he also likes locally grown grits. "I usually get mine from a small mill in Arkansas, but you can find good stone-ground grits at better grocery stores or farmers' markets. Heirloom varieties are fantastic, too, if you can get your hands on them."

Realistically, you can't really determine the quality and freshness of grits just by looking at the sealed bags they come in. But by doing a little homework before your shop, you can improve your odds of getting a good batch. "Here's what I tell my new chefs: First, check when they were milled," chef Serge Krikorian said. "Fresh is best, and I try to use mine within a few months of milling."

Also, don't expect stone-ground grits to have the fine, uniform look of instant grits. "The color should be a natural cream or light yellow, not bright white. You want to see some texture there, maybe even some flecks of the corn hull," Krikorian said. 

Kyle Swarzendruber from Soby's New South Cuisine agrees. "When shopping for grits, I always look for coarse ground grits. They provide a texture and a rich​ corn flavor that you will not find with other types," he said. And if possible, the smell test will tell you whether or not you have good grits. "Good grits should smell fresh and slightly nutty. If they smell musty or off, walk away," Krikorian said.

The one and only advantage that instant grits have over traditional ones is they're fast to cook. But real Southern grits take time to make, and to devotees, this extra time and effort are well worth it. This means, however, that if you want fresh grits for breakfast, you'll have to wake up an hour earlier than usual.

And sorry, you can't speed up the process just by cranking up the heat. "The key is for the grits to absorb the moisture, and if you boil, ​they will lose moisture and become thicker than desired," executive chef Kyle Swarzendruber said. "For a stone-ground grit, you are going to want to prepare ahead because it​ should take up to 1 hour based on how much you are making." Serge Krikorian agrees that the secret to great grits is patience. He advises cooks to use gentle heat and trust the process. "Don't rush it! Good grits are worth the wait," he said.

Cooking grits is fundamentally the same as cooking classic steel-cut oats or any other grain-based porridge –- it's a simple matter of mixing the dry meal into simmering water and allowing the meal to absorb the water and soften. But be forewarned: When cooking grits the old-fashioned way, you may need a lot more water than you think. Grits absorb a lot of water as they cook, and this, combined with evaporation from steam as the mixture cooks, means your grits can get really thick really fast –- and long before they're tender enough to eat.

A standard water-to-grits ratio (and one that our experts use) is four parts liquid to one part grits, though some cooks up the ratio to five to one. This could be a good option if you prefer your grits on the runnier side. Be sure to salt your cooking liquid, and bring it to a boil before adding your grits –- and once your grits are in, give them time to do their thing. If they're thicker than you'd like when they're cooked, you can add more liquid. If they're too thin for your liking, continue to cook them with the pot uncovered to evaporate excess liquid.

Serious practitioners of Italian food know that cooking polenta is a labor of love –- the humble cornmeal mush, traditionally served as a starchy accompaniment to rich, saucy beef stews, including the distinctive taste of carbonade valdostana, requires a long stint at the stove and careful and frequent stirring to prevent lumps or scorching. And while polenta's close relative — grits — may not have as elevated of a culinary reputation, they require no less care to cook correctly.

In short, if you're cooking grits the traditional Southern way, plan to stay close to the stove. "I stir them every 5 to 10 minutes, making sure nothing's sticking to the bottom," chef Serge Krikorian said. (He also likes to keep the cooking temperature relatively low, another step to help prevent scorching.) In addition, Kyle Swarzendruber advises cooks to keep the pot covered between stirring sessions –- this step prevents a skin from forming on top of the grits and helps to contain splatters from popping bubbles as the grits cook.

Among the biggest adversaries you'll face when cooking grits is the prospect of lumps. While cooks and eaters can and do differ in how thick or thin they think the perfect spoonful of grits should be, absolutely nobody likes or respects lumpy grits. Still, grits love to clump up into hard, unappetizing bits as they cook, which is why frequent, thorough stirring is so important when you're making them.

But taking care when adding dry grits to your pot can help keep lumps from forming in the first place. "This is where people mess up because they dump them all in at once and end up with lumps," Serge Krikorian said. Instead, he recommends that cooks add dry grits to boiling water slowly and whisk each addition in thoroughly before adding more. And once all the grits are in, keep whisking for a few minutes –- this will further ensure your grits production gets off to a smooth and drama-free start.

In their most basic form, grits are nothing more than ground corn, water, and perhaps a touch of salt. (And in case you're wondering, by tradition, Southerners never sweeten their grits –- at least not without triggering the ire of some of their cohorts.) If you're planning to use your grits as a backdrop for a saucy dish with powerful flavors, a simply flavored version such as this can allow bigger flavors to shine. "If I'm using them as a base for a dish like shrimp and grits, I leave them pretty neutral, so they soak up the sauce," culinary director John Spotkill of South City Kitchen said.

But many cooks, including Spotkill, like to add some richness to their grits by including milk, cream, or broth as part of their cooking liquid. Spotkill's go-to formula is one part cream and four parts water. Kyle Swarzendruber leans into the savory side of grits by using three parts stock and one part cream. Serge Krikorian's formula varies depending on what he's making. "Usually, I'll do half water, half whole milk, but sometimes I'll throw in some chicken stock for extra flavor," he said. And of course, cheese is a time-honored add-in to cooked grits –- for a modern and flavorful twist, Spotkill likes to add smoked gouda.

Like many traditional foods, stone-ground grits require patience with a long cooking time to achieve their desired tenderness. So if you want to enjoy that traditional flavor at home, you have no option but to put in the traditional labor –- there are no acceptable substitutes for a low, slow cook and lots of careful stirring.

But just as you can speed up the cooking time for dried beans by giving them a long soak first, you can jump-start your grits by pre-soaking them in water the night before you plan to cook. This will make them softer by time they hit the pot, which will help them cook up not only faster, but also creamier. You'll still have to exercise the same care and patience as always while they cook –- but your grits will be ready in as little as 20 or 30 minutes rather than in an hour. If you forget the overnight soak, you can do a quickie, last-minute version: Cover your grits with water, bring them to a boil, then remove the pot from the heat, and let it sit covered for between 20 minutes and an hour. After this, continue to cook them as usual.

If you're going to make traditional stone-ground grits, you might as well make a lot of them –- after all, two servings will require roughly the same amount of work as 10, and having leftovers on hand for future meals would be a great time saver. They're easy to store, and they reheat easily, which is a plus for busy cooks.

And storing leftover grits is pretty much what you imagine it would be. "Allow the grits to cool completely, then cover and store in an airtight container," John Spotkill advises. They'll stay fresh for three to four days in the refrigerator or longer if you freeze them.  When you take them out later, however, you'll find that they've hardened into a solid block. Don't worry — this is normal. 

To reheat them, all you have to do is add a bit of liquid to melt them down again. "For reheating, bring water and a small amount of cream to a boil. Slowly whisk in the leftover grits until heated through and creamy," Spotkill explains. "You may need to add more hot water to get the correct consistency." Depending on the flavor profile you're after, you can use other cooking liquids too –- Kyle Swarzendruber likes to reheat his grits with a small amount of broth.

If you're hungry but feeling lazy, a cold, hard block of leftover grits can be a depressing sight. Reheating it is a lot easier than cooking it the first time, but it's still work –- you'll have to do some careful stirring to restore your grits to their original creaminess.

If this sounds just too depressing, you have an alternative: Take advantage of the solid texture of cold grits instead. "Here's a fun trick: Take your leftover grits, spread them in a pan, let them firm up overnight, then cut them into squares, and fry them up," Serge Krikorian said. "Makes the most amazing crispy grit cakes!" 

For his restaurants, John Spotkill and his team cook up extra-thick grits that can be fried. "Something unusual that South City Kitchen does is to make fried grit croutons for a Caesar salad garnish," he said. "We use slightly less liquid, finish with parmesan cheese along with butter, and spread evenly on a sheet pan. Once cooled, squares are cut out, breaded, and fried until crispy."

Oddly enough, grits didn't get their name because they're gritty (the term is actually a derivative of grist, an old word for any type of ground grain). But the old-school stone-ground grits beloved by Southern cooks and eaters are indeed coarse and are meant to have a bit of texture even when fully cooked. So if you're unfamiliar with grits, don't expect stone-ground varieties to look as uniform as regular cornmeal.

Nor should you expect them to cook up into a perfectly homogenous mass like instant mashed potatoes –-while you definitely don't want any bits to clump together, you can expect to see some distinct nubs of ground grain in the cooked grits. And as you cook, you may notice some of the bigger bits remaining stubbornly hard even after most of the pot seems ready to serve. Experienced cooks know this is normal –- and when this happens, just keep going. They'll cook up in good time, and as long as you stir regularly to prevent the grits from sticking to the bottom of the pan (and add a more liquid if they get too stiff), the rest will turn out fine –- additional cooking just makes them creamier.

In the South, grits are typically served as a starchy partner to other foods, such as breakfast eggs or saucy mains such as scallops or a country ham. And of course, melting a bit of shredded cheese into cooked grits turns them into a flavorful side dish for any meal.

But like other cooked grains, they can also serve as a blank canvas for culinary invention. And while our experts are devoted to the Southern culinary canon, they're not afraid to take grits in new directions. Serge Krikorian, for instance, leans into their similarity to polenta for one of his preferred treatments. "My current favorite is actually a twist on Italian and Southern comfort food. I serve them with homemade meatballs and marinara. It sounds weird, but trust me, it works!" he said. And while shrimp and grits remains popular, our experts love taking grits in new directions. "My favorite sauce​ and one that is on our menu now [is] a tarragon and tomato cream," Kyle Swarzendruber said. And Krikorian devised a creative new way to present the classic dish. "I have to tell you about one of our most popular catering items — our Cajun Shrimp & Cheese Grits shooters. We serve them in elegant little shot glasses at events, with creamy cheese grits on the bottom and a perfectly seasoned Cajun shrimp perched on top," he said.